INSIGHTS

A compilation of recent, high-quality business insights from our businesses that brings together some of the best ideas and stories on Vision and Ideas, Strategy Execution, Top Leadership Effectiveness, and Talent and Succession.

A CEO Looks Back Jeff Immelt, who stepped down as GE chief earlier this month, penned a piece in Harvard Business Review reflecting on his 16-year tenure at the company. From succession planning to divestitures to GE’s P/E ratio, Immelt lays bare the challenge of leading an industrial well into its second century, particularly in examining GE’s digital journey. An excerpt: You can’t regard a transformation READ MORE>>

The Fed’s Lone Dissenter For the second time this year, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari voted against raising interest rates, sounding a more optimistic tone about the economy than Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Kashkari, the lone dissenter on the Federal Open Market Committee, asked recently: Why are we trying to cool down the economy, when there may still be some slack in the job market, READ MORE>>

Transformation Lessons from Transportation Last year, I sat down with former Steelcase CEO Jim Hackett shortly after he traded his Ford director seat to lead a new operational division in Smart Mobility. Our conversation takes on greater significance today, given how Ford’s recent management shakeup requires Jim to reprise his role as CEO and usher in transformation at Ford. From our short video with Jim on design, READ MORE>>

How an Icon Stays Agile To the surprise of some, Ford has pulled ahead in the driverless car race, thanks to AI investments and acquisitions of ride-sharing and lidar startups, says Wired: “That may sound all kinds of wrong to anyone who has seen Uber, Waymo, and Tesla flaunt their tech, and regards Detroit’s old guard as ill-prepared for the robotic future. But it’s the state READ MORE>>

How to Learn from Startup Success With “strategic philanthropy,” says a report about Google’s new spin on the startup accelerator. Under the program, Google finds mature startup talent in emerging markets and helps them solve business challenges with six months of free funding and mentorships. This offers Google crucial product feedback from different markets while positioning company experts at the epicenter of new startup ecosystems. “Transporting READ MORE>>

SSA & Company’s Regenia Sanders, Vice President, and Alison Ponder, Senior Director, were quoted in a IndustryWeek’s Services Trade: Why it Matters to U.S. Manufacturing, on manufacturing and a new major growth opportunity–services trade. Alison commented on congestion at ports as volumes rise, leading to increased wait times and companies needing to “get more advanced in how they manage their inventory” such as inventory management, logistics, tax READ MORE>>

Advanced Analytics, Leadership, and Future Growth With global GDP growth slowing, CEO tenure decreasing, and a talent shortage emerging, CEOs and management teams look to challenging—but exciting—opportunities provided by data and digital. The promise of new technologies and data tools to create faster, more comprehensive solutions has existed for decades, but today it has become a reality for most companies. The possibilities have increased exponentially—but just READ MORE>>

What You Don’t Know About CEO Tenure New data from Spencer Stuart reveals an encouraging and overlooked sign in the media coverage of CEO turnover. Tenure for S&P 500 CEOs continues to rise partly because of better board and management alignment around performance: “Contrary to common perception that the market has become less patient with public company CEOs, for S&P 500 chief executives, the average total READ MORE>>

Ideas That Made Us Think Evolving Customer Sentiment Can Unlock Your Supply Chain’s Potential Consumers’ demands to know what’s in their products is putting unprecedented pressure on companies. Supply chains are increasingly fragmented, and “suppliers are often reluctant to share their formulations, buyers balk at higher costs, and in some cases cost-effective safer substitutes simply aren’t available.” According to Bloomberg, companies, including Levi Strauss & Co., READ MORE>>